Blog posts as a medium started as online journaling, with recipes, personal growth journeys, travel logs, and much more. It has since evolved in the web sphere into a tool for search engine optimization (or SEO). Now, any successful company has a sleek website, showcased products and services, and featured posts that provide unique and relevant content. The reasons for a company to have blog articles on its website are endless, but being able to rank for lucrative keywords is the main one. It’s easier said than done when it comes to mastering how to write a blog post that is both compelling and relevant.
The hardest part of writing a blog post is getting started. It can be daunting to figure out what topics to write, how to write them, and where to find ideas. There are so many decisions to make before you can start writing. This guide will help you through those decisions and help you craft content that isn’t just script with so much jargon it becomes meaningless, but a thoughtful and engaging piece that an audience will enjoy reading.
Planning
A good portion of writing consists of planning. Before you begin, you need to determine what will be the most effective. If you have content on your site, you want people to read it, so you need to plan from the perspective of the reader.
Topic. Find topics by searching forums for the industry you are in. What are people talking about? What is something that is working out well? What could be done better? Discussion boards allow discourse and perspectives you otherwise would never know about. You can also check out what your competitors are posting about to get a sense of what has been covered and what could be elaborated on.
Research and Outline. Outlines don’t have to abide by rigid rules. The writing process is supposed to be messy, and an outline is going to help you organize your topic in a palpable way for your readers. But an outline is a tool for you to use, so don’t stress out about how accurate it is.
Headline. The headline of your article should be attention-grabbing and effective. It’s the first thing readers see when scanning your website. You have to make sure that it conveys the topic while catching the eye of the reader.
Writing
Keywords. There are plenty of keyword tools out there that can help guide you to the right keywords to use within your article. You should also use your judgment and put yourself in the shoes of someone who needs information from you. What sort of queries might one generate?
Wordcount. There is going to be a range of word count where you can find suggestions and statistics ranging anywhere from 500–2500 words. It’s going to depend on the industry you are in and what topics you are going to cover. Track the metrics on your posts and look for patterns and adjust your posts accordingly.
Call-to-Action. Your readers should be itching for more when it’s a good article. Give them a call to action to prompt them to engage. Whether you want them to consider your products and services or share the post for views and likes, nudge your audience in the right direction.
Editing
Messaging. Editing is more than just proofreading a text for spelling and grammar. Your writing has to flow. You should be asking for outside perspectives and feedback to make sure the topic you’ve undertaken has been clearly communicated.
Usefulness. Usefulness refers to how relevant the information is to the reader. You don’t want to regurgitate the same information as everyone else. Your content’s effectiveness must extend to new information. This is just as valuable as the keywords you pepper into your content.
Technical Aspects. As part of SEO best practices, you will want to optimize every page of your website–including the blog posts. A rudimentary understanding of SEO best practices teaches you to have strong links to build authority on your website. Issues such as broken links or links taking users away to unrelated or poor-quality sites will not only affect your ranking, but your users will no longer be interested in your blog or trust its contents.
As a business owner, you’re busy manning the helm of your business. It takes a lot of time and effort to master the skill of blog writing, and it takes even more time and effort to have your posts read. At Fusion Tech Media, we have the time and resources to assist you in all areas of digital marketing–including writing beneficial blog posts. We are experts in expanding your digital presence online, ranking your website, and writing engaging blog posts to boost those interactions. Check out our website for more resources on digital marketing. Reach out to us to start marketing your company to help it flourish.
